Cheaper than what we pay in Israel, assuming we're talking about the same wine.

Dan Kovnat

Unfortunately (for us, here in Israel), many israeli wines (Galil, Yarden, Ella Valley to name a few) are often cheaper in the USA. Sometimes, the retail price for a Galil Yiron or Yarden Merlot is even lower in NYC than the wholesale price in Israel.

Boy, am I confused Given previous discussions on the forum about the various reasons for the high expense of Israeli wines in the USofA (shipping, taxes, strange individual state booze laws, etc), how is it that we pay even more for some of them here in Israel?

Am I correct in assuming that there's an automatic "discount" of wines for export in that they aren't subject to our just raised 17% VAT or are we Israelis getting ripped off Or is it both?

How much of a discount do the big export/import/marketing companies like Royal getting? What's the base price that a winery needs to charge for a wine such as Dalton Alma that started off this string?

Israelis are used to paying an equivalent of almost $8.50/gallon for fuel, exorbitant prices for cars and other big-ticket items. Now our wine is more expensive than the same wine purchased in the USA. Is there anything that we consumers can do about this wine price inequity or is this just the usual little guy getting crushed by the big players?